The Global Partnership for Education Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX), a joint endeavour between the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), hosted the Second KIX Symposium on November 9, 2021. The Symposium demonstrated the progress KIX is making, explored how countries are using knowledge sharing and research for their education systems and shared insights on two important education priorities: early childhood education and teacher professional development. The virtual event attracted 298 attendees from countries around the globe.
The event opened with remarks from Julie Shouldice, Vice President of Strategy, Regions and Policy at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) who shared her reflections on the importance of evidence and innovation to improve education access and quality and shed light on KIX’ capacity to respond to Southern education priorities and fast-track the evidence to policy process. Alice Albright, Chief Executive Officer of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) followed and shared highlights from the new GPE strategic plan, shedding light on KIX’ Second Annual Report and shared testimonials from country representatives on the value KIX has brought to them in relation to gender mainstreaming and policy dialogues. Tricia Wind, Program Leader of KIX at IDRC, dove deeper into some of the major results of KIX’ second year of operations and showcased the new KIX timeline which details KIX milestones from its launch in 2019 up until 2021 in a concise infographic.
The panel on early childhood education (ECE) in Africa was moderated by Joy Nafungo, Senior Program Officer, IDRC. The first panellist, Dr. Lynette Okengo, Founder and Executive Director, African Early Childhood Network, presented an overview of existing gaps in ECE in Africa and how the priority identification process that KIX regional hubs undertook has helped shape the focus of ECE for KIX. Massey Tucker, Education Officer, UNICEF, Sierra Leone Country Office, and Melody Martin, Assistant Director, Pre-primary and Primary Education, Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE), Sierra Leone, then highlighted emerging lessons from their KIX-funded project on integrating early childhood education into sectoral planning and shared Sierra Leone’s experience in using the ECE Accelerator Toolkit to develop the ECE sub-sector plan. Together they addressed the topic of ECE from varying entry points - some of which are mentioned in a recent KIX blog on the topic.
Anne Ngatia Principal Assessment Officer, Kenya National Examinations Council and KIX Africa 19 hub focal point, highlighted that countries are making use of what they're learning through their participation in KIX. This is most noticeable in the recent national dialogue hosted by the KIX Africa 19 hub and the Kenya Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Kenya National Commission for UNESCO (KNATCOM). The hub has been praised as a great example of “mobilizing the power of connectivity and collaboration to collect data and share best knowledge and practices” (UNESCO’s Regional Office for Eastern Africa).
The panel on Teacher Professional Development (TPD) in Latin America and the Caribbean was moderated by Dr. Ivana Zacarias, Program Officer for the KIX Regional Hub for Latin America and the Caribbean and in her presentation, she addressed aspects of TPD emerging from country baseline studies and regional call priority reports. Gloria Menjivar, former Vice Minister of Education in Honduras addressed efforts in Honduras TPD policies and how they connect with KIX initiatives. Dante Castillo, SUMMA, shared early findings from the TPD@Scale project funded by KIX, findings which are also discussed in this recent KIX blog on the topic. Finally, Joel Warrican, Director of the School of Education at the University of the West Indies and member of the KIX LAC Advisory Board, addressed how national delegations in Latin America and the Caribbean are using emerging findings from KIX research.
The symposium concluded with remarks from two members of the KIX Executive Committee: Naser Faruqui, Program Director, Education and Science at IDRC and Margarita Focas-Licht, Manager, Partnership Development and Effectiveness at GPE. With the hubs and most evidence-building projects now established, Naser shared that KIX’ focus would shift more to implementation & adaptive management. Margarita closed the event by inviting all KIX partners to continue to bring evidence to the policy table in order to transform systems to improve the education outcomes of children.
To watch the full recording of the symposium in English, French and Spanish, click here.
You can also find the recording of the symposium in the KIX Library.
